(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a replenishing ink cartridge capable of quickly replenishing an ink-jet printing ink cartridge (to be referred to as a printing cartridge hereinafter) with an ink.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, when replenishing a printing cartridge, having an ink absorber made of a porous body or fiber bundle stored in an ink storage chamber, with an ink, for example, the ink is directly dropped to the ink absorber through a dropping pipet, or the ink is injected into the ink absorber through a replenishing ink cartridge. The replenishing ink cartridge is constituted by a syringe and an injection needle mounted on the distal end portion of the syringe.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Hei 7 No. 1744, Hei 8 No. 67012, and Hei 9 Nos. 131886 and 39263 disclose ink cartridges of this type.
Conventionally, ink replenishment to a printing cartridge is performed in the above manner and accordingly has problems as follows. First, when ink replenishment is performed by dropping an ink with a dropping pipet, if a large amount of ink is dropped at once or the ink is injected continuously, the ink may overflow before it is absorbed by the ink absorber. Therefore, in replenishment, the ink must be intermittently dropped little by little, requiring a long period of time until completion of the replenishment.
When the ink is injected by using a replenishing ink cartridge, it is done by deeply inserting an injection needle into the ink absorber. The injection needle must be formed such that it can be easily pierced into the ink absorber, i.e., it must be formed to have a small outer diameter and a sharp distal end. If the replenishing ink cartridge is erroneously used, it may damage an user or an article.